Leach-pitcher.



No. 728,125. PATBNTED MAY 1 ,1903... J. R. MORRISON.

LEAGH PITGHER.

v APPLICATION FILED MAB. 17.1903. N0 MODEL. 2 SHEETS SHEBT l.

- INVENTO Wf a H BY My M1 rm 728,125,. PATENTED MAY 12. 1903;.

' J. MORRISON.

LEAGH PITGHER.

APPLIOA'JZION FILED MAR. 17. 1903.

N0 MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.,

[TNES' NVEN T OR UNITED STATES T fiatented May 12, 1963.-

JOHN R. MORRISON, OF'PETOSKEY, MICHIGAN;

LEACH-PITCHER.

v SIECIFIGATION forming part of Letter ratem No. 728,125, dated. May 12, 190? Application filed Marohl7; 190?. Serial 'No. 148',187. (N0 model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN R. MORRISON, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Pe; I I e I the drawings by letter, A designates aleach= vat, there being preferably in tanneries a se-' toskey, in the county of Emmet and State of Michigan, havcinvented certain new and use-- ful Improvements in Leach-Pitchers; and I in line with one another and adapted to con do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in leach-pitchers; and it consists in the provision of means whereby the spent tanbark from which the extract has been Withdrawn in leachers may be driven out of the leach through a hole in the bottom thereof, thus dispensing with hand labor for accomplishing this purpose.

Heretofore it has been the practice in the art after the leaching process of taubark for persons to utilize forks or other tools for pitching the spent tanbark to a central aperture, through which it is allowed to fall by gravity upon a conveyer and carried to an engine room, where it is used as fuel.

It is the purpose of the present invention to accomplish the removal of the spent tan bark by my improved mechanism, as it can be accomplished wliile'the tanbark is still'hot, and which would render it inconvenient to remove it from the leach by hand-power while highly heated.

Myinvention consists, further, in various details of construction and in combinations and arrangements of parts, which will be here-. inafter more fully described and then speciiically defined in the appended. claims.

My invention isillustrated in the accom; panying drawings, which, with the letters of reference marked thereon, form a part of this application, and in' which drawings similar letters-of reference indicatelike parts in all.

the views, in which Figure 1 is a vertical central section through my improved apparatus shown as applied adjacent to a leach-vat. Fig. 2 is a .top plan View of the device. Fig. 3 is a bottom plan 'i'iew, and Fig; 4 is a-detail sectional View showing parts -in elevation. 7 I v Reference now'being had to the details of ries of vats ofsimilar construction which are tain the tanbark from which the strength is to be extracted for tanning purposes, and mounted over the series of vats is a track B, upon which the platform or truck 0 of my improved apparatus isadapted to travel. Said truck comprises a platform having Wheels 0, mounted upon suitable axles, and seated in the platform of the truck isa nut D, counter- G, which are journaled in suitablebearings in the platform of the truck, and rising from said driving-wheel are the guide-rods H, each made of a single piece of metal bent in inverted-U shape, the ends of said rods being fastened to the driving-wheel in any suitable manner. These guide-rods are securedopposit-o each other, as shown ,inthe drawings, and LI designate grooved wheels, which are journaled upon the ends of the shaft K and travel upon said guide-rods as -the'screw: shaft carrying said shaft K is raised and lowered.

By the'arrangcment described and illustrated it will be seen that as the driving- Wheel is rotated the rods H will cause the screw-shaft to rotate in one direction or the other, accordingly as the drivingwheel is driven in one direction or the other by connection with the main driving-shaft. Asthe threaded shaft rotates inone directionor thev other it will raise or lower by reason of the circumferential threads of the shaft engagingthe threaded bore of the stationary *nut,"f

which is mounted on the platform of the truck.

L and L designate beveled gears, which are mounted upon the shafts N and N, respectively, and are in mesh with the teeth of said driving-wheel F. Mounted upon the from the idlers to the fixed pulleys, and vice versa.

Detachably held upon the lowerend of the threaded shaft are the cross-bars J, which have scrapers or shovels M arranged, as shown clearly in the bottom plan view of the drawings, at angles to the bars on which they are mounted and also positioned at difierent locations to the length of said bars, whereby as said bars are rotated the shovels or scrapers will be adapted to force the spent tanbark from near the outer margin of the vat toward the central aperture for the purpose of forcing out the taubark from the vat after the strength has been extracted from the same.

It is my purpose to adjust the apparatus so that in a few minutes time the mechanism may be moved from one leaching-vat to another, and thus utilized in connection with the whole series of vats over which the tracks are disposed.

After the threaded screw has been lowered so that the shovels or scrapers reach the bottoms of the vats the belts may be shifted and the pulleys so arranged that the rising up of the screw by rotating the same in the opposite direction from that in feeding the tanbark to the center of the leach may be accomplished in a much quicker time than the normal feeding downward of the screw.

While I have shown a particular form of apparatus embodying the features of my invention, it will be understood that I may make alterations in the details of construction of the same without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A leach pitcher comprising a truck mounted over a leaching-vat, a threaded nut held stationary upon the truck, a threaded shaft mounted to turn in said nut, scrapers or shovels adapted to be rotated by said shaft as the latter is moved longitudinally, and means for rotating said shaft, as set forth.

2. A leach pitcher comprising a truck adapted to be positioned over a leaching-vat, a threaded nut, supported upon the truck and held stationary, a threaded shaft working through said nut, scrapers positioned radially at different locations from said shaft and rotated thereby, a driving-Wheel mounted upon the platform and turning loosely about the shaft, and means intermediate said driving-wheel and the shaft for rotating the lat ter, as set forth.

3. A leach -pitcher comprising a truck adapted to be mounted upon suitable tracks above the leaching-vat, a stationary nut mounted upon the platform of the truck, a threaded shaft adapted to Work through said nut, arms secured to the lower end of the shaft, scrapers fastened to said arms at different locations from the centers of said cross-pieces, a driving-wheel mounted hori zontally upon the truck and turning loosely about said shaft, rods secured to said driving-shaft, and connections between the same and said shaft for rotating the same, whereby said shovels may be rotated and moved longitudinally with the threaded shaft, as set forth.

4. A leach pitcher comprising a truck adapted to be mounted upon asuitable track above the vat, a stationary nut mounted upon the platform of the truck, a threaded shaft passing through said nut, cross-arms secured to the ends of the shaft, scrapers mounted upon said arms, the upper end of the threaded shaft having a cross-bar secured thereto, grooved wheels on the ends of said bar, a horizontally mounted driving gear turning loosely about said threaded shaft, and curved rods fastened at their ends to said driving-wheel and forming guides for said grooved wheels, and adapted, through the medium of said crossbar and grooved wheels, to rotate the threaded shaft, and beveled wheels in mesh with said driving-wheel and the idle and fixed pulleys upon said shaft, as set forth.

5. A leach pitcher comprising a truck mounted upon suitable wheels and adapted to travel over a series of leaching-vats, a stationary nut mounted upon the platform of the truck, a threaded shaft adapted to travel through said nut, cross-bars secured to the lower end of said shaft and having feedingscrapers positioned thereon, antifriction-rollers mounted on the platform of the truck, a horizontal and loosely journaled driving wheel turning about said shaft and resting upon said antifriction-rollers, the beveled gear-wheels in mesh with said driving-wheel, the cross-bar carried by said threaded shaft, grooved wheels journaled on the ends of said cross-bar, and rods bent in inverted-U shape and fastened at their lower ends to the driving shaft and frictionally engaging the grooved circumferences of the Wheels carried by said bar, the apparatus being so arranged that when the driving-wheel is rotated in one direction or the other, the threaded shaft will be raised or lowered, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN R. MORRISON.

Witnesses:

J. FRED Boon, A. J. DUDEK.

ICO 

